1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to conveyor systems, and particularly to a material sample collector for periodically diverting a sample of material (dirt, gravel, or other material) from a conveyor for inspecting the quality of the material.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conveyance of materials (e.g., sand and gravel, articles of manufacture and components on production lines, food products during processing, etc.) by means of conveyor belt systems of various types is well known. From time to time it is necessary to take a sample of the conveyed product for testing, quality measurement, and/or for some other purpose(s). This is often done manually, although some automated devices for taking samples are also known.
The sand and gravel mining industry is an example of a field in which it is necessary to take periodic samples of material. The material must be sampled periodically to determine its purity, i.e., to confirm that there is not an excessive amount of foreign matter (dirt, vegetation, etc.) mixed in with the sand or gravel, and/or to determine the particle size of the gravel or sand. Conventionally, this requires shutting down the conveyor line for some period of time while a sample is withdrawn manually from the conveyor. Obviously, this is an inefficient process when the entire conveyor line must be stopped from time to time for material sampling.
As a result, various devices have been developed to take a conveyed sample automatically from a moving conveyor line. However, such automated sampling devices are universally complex and costly, and require considerably more maintenance (and upkeep expense) than do simpler manual systems, even though such manual systems require that the conveyor line be shut down for sampling.
Thus, a material sample collector solving the aforementioned problems is desired.